November 30, 2009

Rush Limbaugh — speaking on the radio right now — does not believe the story of the state dinner gate-crashers. He's suggesting they were, in fact, on the guest list, and the White House later found a reason to want to distance itself from them. He notes that when he's gone to a White House function — he, a very recognizable celebrity — he has had to give his Social Security number and go through multiple checkpoints with the Secret Service. There is something more to this, he wants us to know.

ADDED: Is the Secret Service taking a fall for Obama even as Tiger Woods is (perhaps) taking a fall for Elin Nordegren? That is, perhaps, there is a damaging connection between the gate-crashers and the Obama administration, and the Secret Service is absorbing the blow by taking the blame, when in fact it made no mistake. And Tiger Woods, perhaps, is saying that he's to blame for his accident...

The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false.

238 comments:

Rush is a frigging moron...but he's also the "leader" of the GOP:(He's also one of Ann's heroes)

NEW YORK — By a wide margin, Americans consider Rush Limbaugh the nation's most influential conservative voice.

Those are the results of a poll conducted by "60 Minutes" and Vanity Fair magazine and issued Sunday. The radio host was picked by 26 percent of those who responded, followed by Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck at 11 percent. Actual politicians – former Vice President Dick Cheney and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin – were the choice of 10 percent each.

El Rushbo makes an excellent point, although, given the name involved, could this be another Major Hasan situation? They looked at the name and didn't want to start anything, particularly since The Zero might not want to appear to be "exclusionary"?

If they're invited, they'd have an invitation to show. You don't throw those things out.

Appearing to have crashed the White House event might be better publicity than just going to it. Especially if you were trying to be part of the oh-so-important Wives of DC -- and who wouldn't want that?

Still, the easiest explanation is that someone in security screwed up. So I'll stick with that and let the conspiracy believers spin what they want.

traditional dolt - The entire affair is an embarrassment, and a breach of security, but something from an "objective" party, and one who really knows how things were handled, I'm not going to just take what this fat wing nut asshole says as being the least bit accurate. (I've read that they were cleared through metal detectors, just as all of the guests.)

YOU tell me what this fat prick is basing his "conjecture" on? That he visited the White House and now he knows exactly what was or was not done in this case?

It's nothing more than the standard fat man bullshit, designed to stir the pot.

And of course, to get YOU and the "Queen" into his corner.

What Ann Althouse finds so interesting about this weasel and anything he says is difficult to understand...you, considering how "independent" she says she is.

Well, yeah. The question is "Why did the SS admit someone who wasn't on the guest list?" and not "Why can't people remember how bad Bush was?"

I will stipulate for this discussion that Bush was the worst president ever.

Now can we get back to the original question -- how the heck did the most important nation in the world let two cranks get close enough to the President to shake hands with him at an event that had multiple screening levels?

You think the enemies of America didn't take notice of this?

While I did not and will not ever vote for MC President, he is still the chief executive of the most powerful nation on the planet & he (and his family) needs to be kept secure and safe.

This is a catastrophic FAIL if the SS cannot keep nuts away from the President.

My father was on loan to the Secret Service from the Army during the Carter-Reagan campaign (EOD expert). He completely disagrees with the current spin on this story and, though he doesn't listen to, agrees point for point with El Rushbo on this one.

Jeremy the Great...After all of this Science thrown around this week reacting to the missing Faux Data in East Anglia, my doltish mind remembers a comment that all science and truth comes by the asking of skeptical questions. So far your logical response to Rush's skeptical question has been that Fat Men cannot think.If this is true, then Weiss is out at Notre Dame.

You may not care for his politics, but when you say, "Rush is a frigging moron" you lose whatever weight your argument might have had. While you obviously have not listened to him much, you sure seem to have absorbed the Left's talking points about him. I have listened for over 20 years and while he isn't perfect, he does have an astute ear about bullshit (ear implants or no ear implants).

Clearly Jeremy has nothing better to do this morning, hopefully his medication will be delivered soon.

As many have noted, his reading comprehension leave much to be desired. He has shown time and time to be frigging moron, who couldn't lead his way out of a paper bag.

Anyway...to the topic at hand. I suspect the secret service didn't just let them walk in, I think we will find someone from the White House walked them thru security. I seriously doubt Obama knew anything about this until the story broke.

What is interesting to speculate on though, is why Jeremy has completely gone ape shit over a question that is legitimate, no matter who is asking. Sometimes (most times) his fascist tendencies just jump out. Oh no, Rush has a question.......KILL HIM!

Obama may not have wanted Tareq Salahi's name on the guest list---from gatewaypundit:

Tareq Salahi, the polo-playing intruder, is a Palestinian nationalist with ties to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) , a pro-Palestine lobby demanding the “right of return” for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

jeffrey - The fact that I think Rush Limbaugh is a wing nut prick or that I find it rather strange that a law professor would be so enamored with this loudmouth has nothing to do with medication.

Instead of blathering on about ME (and sucking up to your fellow wing nuts here), why not direct your comment to why you think Limbaugh would know anything about what happened that evening at the White House?

All he's doing is throwing out the usual right wing chum to idiots like yourself...who happily gobble it up.

The folks were members of the Palestinian wealthy class always showing up in DC and Brussels to demand a few billion more dollars for their oppressed rufugees to be put into Swiss Bank Accounts until Israel is wiped off the map. The golden flow stops when Israel stops existing. That is a quandry calling for a Community Activist's skills. If this is reported in the media, then it is not important. But if the media goes "run silent run deep" on this real part of the story, then we will know that Obama's Czars are trying to get some of this flow of Palestinian Aid loot kicked back for themselves.

How funny. I was in traffic right now, and tuned in (from NPR, heh) to Rush in time to hear him say that!

He said he had been to several White House functions and each time he has to give his Social and DOB, which triggers a new security check each time.

I had no idea the security procedures were so strict. As a woman, my first thought was "those middle-aged women who lie about their names have to blurt out their DOB for all to hear?" or...can they write it down on a piece of paper. ;)

The moment I heard the name of the husband especially, Tareq Salahi, I knew this was going to be a huge story -- perhaps for all the wrong sensationalist reasons.

An Arab-American and his wife penetrating an exclusive, and highly secure area like the White House, at a STATE DINNER, and getting to shake hands with the President of the US?

Whatever you think, you have to admit the story writes itself. But there IS a question tied to his origins that people should be asking.

Is this political correctness at work again, like in the Ft. Hood massacre? Where you fear being labeled anti-Arab or anti-Muslim if you come down too hard on them?

Of course the Real Housewives of New Jersey would visit the governor’s mansion all the time when Mario Cuomo was the Governor of New York State. But that was only because they were all members of the Genovese family.

No, Ann, I don't know as many law professors as you, but I also find it rather bizarre that a law professor who says she is an independent (and voted for President Obama) thinks Rush Limbaugh is some kind of amazing fountain of useful (or true) information.

Are you implying law professors in general, also think Rush is a really interesting and informative force in America...or just the ones who relish in the fact that they've been mentioned by the fat man on his radio show?

Ann, Rush made a point about Tiger Woods' story that I haven't heard anyone else cover so far. At the end of the statement, he said, "It won't happen again".

How can anyone make this statement, that an accident won't happen again, being as it is beyond our control?

That is a Freudian slip on his part, which relates to either an Elin coverup ("the missus won't be running at me with a golf club again, you can be sure of that") or an admission of guilt on his part about his affair OR, less salaciously, that if they do argue again as husbands and wives do, that he will think twice before getting into a car and smashing into a tree and fire hydrant in anger.

I attended about 6 presidential/vice presidential events during W's term and there is no way anyone could get into those events sans invite without someone inside vouching for the party crashers.

No way.

I attended Bush Sr.'s inauguration, was walking across the Capitol grounds with credentials hanging around my neck and was still stopped four times by SS even after passing thru a couple layers of security outside the fence, including a metal detecter.

Is the Secret Service taking a fall for Obama even as Tiger Woods is (perhaps) taking a fall for Elin Nordegren? That is, perhaps, there is a damaging connection between the gate-crashers and the Obama administration..

The connection I see is that when Libs are in charge, things like cheating on a spouse, sexting and crashing a WH party taking on more significance.. that is.. they are judged harsher as opposed to when conservatives are in charge.

He notes that when he's gone to a White House function — he, a very recognizable celebrity — he has had to give his Social Security number and go through multiple checkpoints with the Secret Service.

I would not take Rush's word as gospel, because I suspect that procedures may vary from administration to administration, and I seriously doubt that either Obama or Clinton invited him.

In my limited experience, however, your name does have to be on a list to get into the White House. What sort of pre-admission vetting they do I don't know. I remember being checked in at the gate, but I don't remember any checking after that.

The most likely scenario is that they were the guests of a formal invitee, who had them added to the guest list ahead of time.

At any rate, someone must have vouched for them.

American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) , a pro-Palestine lobby demanding the “right of return” for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

Not according to sourcewatch. The ATFP advocates a two-state solution so that Israel and Palestine can live side by side in peace and security.http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Task_Force_on_Palestine

Vspurs...As a member in good standing of the married male class, let me interpret Tiger's statement for you. "THAT" will never happen again is the message. Once can be considered an oops. Twice is a pattern that must be dealt with rather than swept under the rug.There will be a lot of Kobi Bryant style making up to do at Chez Woods this winter. The Escalade can be fixed, but fixing Elin's heart will be a harder task taking more patience than Tiger may have.

Of course President Abraham Lincoln would sneak his old roommate Joshua Fry Speed past the Pinkertons all the time during the Civil War. Of course the next day one side of his face would noticeably sag.

BTW, what are the chances you or any other American male could run into a fire hydrant and a tree with your car, then dick around the police when they came to interview you, cancelling the meeting three times, only for the matter to be dropped after an "official statement" on your part?

FLS...The two State solution requires Trillions of dollars to be pumped into a near worthless area whose only value is as a good neighbor of Israel doing grunt work or as a jumping off point for The Next Final Solution to steal the Jews wealth. But its for Peace on Earth says the cartoon like UN and Obama. Therfore Obama is getting ready to organize that new State for a very large fee paid to cut out men. I only hope that the Swiss banks can hold that much money.

Ricardo, that was what I was suggesting Dogwood was saying, not exactly my idea of what happened.

Although I do have to say that seems to be a likely explanation.

Another one that comes to mind is this: this was the first State Dinner and the SS were out of practise since the last one (I Googled, it was for the President of Ghana on September 15, 2008), more than a year ago.

I personally think the White House Chief of Protocol or whomever is in charge of invitations should be fired, at minimum.

He or she already have goofed in the question of President Obama shouting out the Infanta Cristina of Spain's name when she wasn't present at a Democratic function (clearly she wasn't invited or she refused but the CoP failed to inform the President she wasn't there, making him look like an incompetent dumbass).

Is it possible the gate crashers would not have made it in had it not being a blond?

A well-dressed, well-heeled blonde, Lem. I don't see some bouncy blonde Hooters gal and her husband crashing the White House. There is a look that this couple has, that screams socialites. That's what got them inside.

Sorry, Victoria. I realized my mistake, and pulled my comment, but you saw it before I could delete.

There's a reasonable chance that someone on the inside (meaning protocol staff, another WH staffer, someone in the Indian delegation, whoever) got these people in. That person needs to be fired. In every organization, there are established procedures for "sneaking someone in". But the stakes are too high at the White House, and the Secret Service needs to be part of the "sneaking someone in" procedure. At the same time, the Salahi's (if this is the scenario) knew that they were being snuck in, and depending on what lies they may or may not have told the Secret Service at the checkpoints, they too must be accountable for their actions. There's a lot of blame to pass around here, and we're not just looking for one scapegoat. Everyone should take the hit for this breach of security.

Guys, I haven't checked Ann's posts before today, so forgive me if this has been posted before, but check out the Salahis' photos with other "celebrities". It's a gold mine for any followup "Six Degress of Separation" game you might want to play!

How to get from Justice Anthony Kennedy to Matt Damon or Roland Burriss in one degree? The Salahis.

It reminds me of that funny quote from the movie of the same name, when Stockard Channing said:

Apart from anything else, the security of the People's Mansion was put at risk, NOT TO MENTION our President's life, for crying out loud. This is awful.

I mean, this is as bad as the Secret Service agents boozing and whoring at a burlesque club the night before Dallas 1963. It's about being ready and alert for all possibilities, and neither they nor today's version were.

I think it's very fishy. I recently had a meeting with a mid-level official at the Old Executive Building. My social security number, full name, and date of birth were required in advance and I had to show my drivers license at a check point before I could even get close to the building. Then had to show it again and get wanded before I could get into the lobby. If they weren't on the list, their getting into the dinner is completely indefensible.

Here's another absolutely ridiculous gaffe via the GOP's 10% favorite as their new and improved "leader"...

Princess Sarah:

In her new comic book, Going Rogue, this idiot attributes a quote to UCLA basketball legend John Wooden.

The quote: "Our land is everything to us... I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it--with their lives."

Try to imagine someone who thinks they can be President of the United States, attributing a quote like that...to an ex-UCLA basketball coach...when in reality it was...

...written by a Native American activist named John Wooden Legs in an essay entitled "Back on the War Ponies," which appeared in a an anthology, We Are the People: Voices from the Other Side of American History, edited by Nathaniel May, Clint Willis, and James W. Loewen.

Only 1.5 million? Now that he's managed to figure out the password to his parents' computer, that should only take him until next Tuesday (according to projections provided by the University of East Anglia CRU).

Maybe. But if I'm on the jury, Elin walks. And Tiger has apparently cancelled the rest of his golf schedule for this year, to attend to his #1 priority (damage control). As a commenter said here a day or two ago, Tiger is really good at what he does (golf and image), so it will be interesting to see how he goes about fixing his various problems.

I keep trying to have an open mind, but nothing so far has persuaded me that listening to Rush makes anyone smarter or more well-informed.

Please try harder, Beth, unless you've personally been to a White House state dinner and alreay knew how much vetting and passing through checkpoints an invited guest goes through.

Has the Secret Service suddenly gotten lax? I'd like to believe not, but either that or else the Salahi couple really were invited. Some people, apparently including Rush Limbaugh, have noted the thoroughness of the Secret Service in the past and the sloppy staff work of this administration and concluded the latter. I'd rather he was right than that the Secret Service screwed up this badly.

And for the record, Jeremy and you other members of the certifiably lunatic political fringe, every Republican I know is extremely concerned that allegedly uninvited guests could not only crash a state dinner but get physically close to the President himself. What was to stop Michaele Salahi, who was photographed shaking hands with Obama, from concealing a nonmetallic, poisonous, needle as part of her outfit's decorations? I hope I speak for all of us when I say that we would be really happy if JFK is the last President to be assassinated ever.

Ever notice that if Rush were to say that the sun was shining, some insecure people would, rather than discuss whether the sun was in fact shining, try to be the first to say:

"There is no reason for an educated, reasonable person to listen to, much less quote [fill in derogatory term of your choice to describe] Rush

And yet who do they, in turn go to for their own “facts”, “truth”, or insights? Well, the MSM or leftwing blogs.

Witness the AGW debate. It appears that the MSM let its anti-capitalist tendencies, its leftist agenda, & its disdain for reasonable scientific skepticism overcome its reasoning abilities.

Yet these “First Responders” know that there are only two audiences for American news or entertainment: joyless fundamentalist, under-educated religious uptight jerks and the brave, urbane cosmopolitans who resist them.

If some think Rush has no insight or news for us benighted fools, OK. But why do they themselves usually consider the MSM infallible?

Secret: The MSM depends on the NYT to set the news agenda but their epigoni don’t think of themselves as having no independent thought or insight or being otherwise unaware of “the news”. Or as unfair & unbalanced. And, peeking behind the curtain, we see that the NYT’s “news” often consists of tips (often spin & speculation) from people with the NYT’s agenda.

But the NYT could fulfill its role of dishonest distorter playing to ite readers" prejudices, it being the “news” since truth-tellers had no chance to respond in a timely fashion. Now rightwing Blogs & Talk Radio, & not-so-rightwing except in relation to the MSM, Fox News can, deo gratias, use other sources (e.g. leaked e-mails about AGW supporters channeling Algore & inventing AGW “proof”) to begin a thought process without a PC-preconceived conclusion.

It would be amusing if it were not so serious when the MSM & its epigoni respond immediately with "Rush is a racist" & “FOX is not a ‘real’ News Channel".And feels it necessary & appropriate to respond further, that whatever FOX or Rush is claiming to have occurred never occurred or if it did it occur, it didn’t actually, you know, occur as FOX or Rush said it occurred, or it wasn't as important as FOX or Rush made it sound to their déclassé audiences, or it was more nuanced than FOX or Rush understood.

t-man,I case you haven't noticed from his post, Jeremy is a high school kid with little understanding of the world.

As you will note, he frequently listens to Rush even though he is obvious in his hatred to him. I suspect this is a serious psychological problem. In addition, Rush is on at times in which high school kids are in school, so this guy is not attending class.

He is not experienced enough to know the the Secreat Services have in place very definite ways of handling the president that do not change. The last president to try and tell them what to do was Kennedy.

From what we have come to know of Obama, it is clear that he would consider these actors as important people. He may have bowed to them as well.

Where did they sit at dinner? Don't they have place cards and assigned tables at state dinners like these? I don't think that this is a vast conspiracy, but I don't think they "really" sneaked in. Someone got them in. I seriously doubt Obama knew anything about it, but someone at the White House knew they were coming and made it okay.

As you will note, he frequently listens to Rush even though he is obvious in his hatred to him. I suspect this is a serious psychological problem

You know, I just don't understand this phenomenon. I have a friend who can't stand Rush. She gets all purple in the face and says that she HATES Rush. My question to her is: "Why do you listen to him then? If you don't like him.....don't listen to his show."

I purposely do not listen to Olberman or Maddow and a few others that I really detest. Olberman because he is just and idiot and Maddow because she uses the purposely insulting and indecent "Teabagging" term with a snide snicker.

If you want to listen and be informed of what all sides are saying, that's a fine thing. But if the person disturbs you so much that you HATE, drool and spew all over the keyboard like Jeremy. Don't listen.

Say you went to a club that had a cover charge. You didn't want to pay, so you talked your way past the coverage charge guy. Then you walked through the metal detector and had to get a pat down from the pat down guy.

Later on, everyone finds out that you didn't pay the cover charge. Would that make you a security threat?

No.

There are tons of Presidential events where there is no list at all. Events where people will be within touching distance of the President. A list is not some holy grail of security. Someone ON the list can be a threat. That's why security is its own thing.

@Freeman, sorry to disagree with you. My understanding is that the Secret Service gets to see the draft guest list well in advance and perform background checks on the people on it before the invitations are sent out. I have that from someone who was actually a guest at a White House event for a prior administration (I don't even know which one -- he's part of the the "permanent Washington establishment" and seems to find himself employed no matter which party is in power).

So let's suppose somebody has published material on the Internet that, say, endorses jihad. And that person decides to crash a White House function. How comfortable do you feel about that?

The left just can't dislike anybody like Limbaugh or Palin [unlike the right, who are reasonable, measured, and respectful of people on the left they dislike] whenever these posts show up every day. They go into convulsions, drool and spit all over their keyboards. Oh yea, and as Beth mentioned, ALL worship MSM.

Well I did vote for the ticket she was running on. The alternative was to vote for a ticket where the guy at the top was even less qualified than she was and the guy opposite her was an alleged Con Law professor who didn't even know that Article I establishes the legislative branch of our government.

I still think Palin is more knowledgeable than Joe Biden, but I recognize that it's a pretty low threshold.

Why do you listen to him then? If you don't like him.....don't listen to his show."

I purposely do not listen to Olberman or Maddow and a few others that I really detest.

Me three. I have to listen to family, friends and academics who are all Lefties, so I purposely avoid them in media. It's enough with the constant daily onslaught around me.

Of course, Dust Bunny Queen, this phenomenon displayed by your friend explains why Fox News and talk radio do so very well. Just about everyone tunes in. Mostly Lefties tune into Air America and MSNBC.

garage, you're being pedantic. It's unfair to notice how the right gets a-dither over liberals making sexist comments about Palin's looks or IQ, instead of offering substantive critique, but starts screaming WHORE! at Mary Landrieu (Ditto, Rush!), instead of oh, I don't know, offering substantive criticism. But Rush sez 'tis a pity she's a whore, and there you go. Suddenly that's what passes for reason and wisdom.

The security is a separate thing. That's the part where you show ID, give your Social Security number, walk through a metal detector, etc.

They talked their way past the list guy, but they still had to go through actual security.

Not seeing what the big deal is here.

I'm with Mike. In normal times, the adults as in the SS are in charge. Nibody but nobody changes the security rules and all guest lists are screened in advance.

An interesting question is: has the Obama WH put the social secretary types in charge? is everybody frightened of Michelle? Have there been lots of other people escorted through / around security to avoid having their names show up on a FOIA, so that now the SS feels browbeaten?

I don't buy the Rush theory, but I am shocked (really schocked, not Capt Renault shocked) that the SS screwed up a security checkpoint on their own turf, unless of course the whole thing was a goat rope of exceptions to rules and some protocol weenie was calling the shots at Michelle's direction.

I was thinking of the White House Easter Egg hunts. Surely not everyone is checked beforehand, and the Secret Service merely rely on the security checkpoints on the grounds?

But as to your question, I suspect this is a big deal, Freeman Hunt, because it's the FIRST time we've had publically exposed White House event gatecrashers, at the FIRST State Dinner (of a man who happens to be the FIRST black American president, although it's not relevant to our story). Add the Facebook angle, which is also a first, and you have a lot of first-time happenings merging into one.

Personally, I think Americans are the opposite of Ed Asner's character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. They like spunk.

Big Mike - "Please try harder, Beth, unless you've personally been to a White House state dinner and alreay knew how much vetting and passing through checkpoints an invited guest goes through."

But of course, you base everything on believing everything the fat man says.

Do you also believe he didn't buy drugs from his maid or travel to Mexico to also buy drugs illegally?

Sucking up to fellow wing nuts doesn't make anything they say any more believable.

Do YOU really believe that when this fat tub of lard, who's been on TV and radio for years on end...with millions of wing nut minions (like yourself) hanging on his every word...was really asked for his social, security number and birth date to get into the White House...after being invited...so they could be sure he was really the fat man??

I listen to my iPod or sports talk radio, and if I can avoid TV talking heads, I feel like I've had a good day.

I did that for almost a year, Elizabeth. It was sooo serene. I literally had peace of mind not getting worked up about the latest media-driven meme, of either political stripe.

But you know what? I wasn't meant to be a hermit, isolated from public opinion. I felt the world was spinning around me, and I was standing stock still. I felt like I imagine illiterate people live or that I was in a Third World country (like the many I grew up in), where important stuff never seems to matter all that much.

Everyone listens to their own flavor of idiots, on the radio, or the TV.

Well, I don't listen to talk radio, mainly because I'm working when it is on and it is too tedious with the repetitions and commercial breaks.

I do make a point of watching some MSNBC and CNN in the morning before work. Mostly I watch Fox Business Channel.

I do avoid people that are stupid (Olberman) or insulting (Maddow) and occasionally watch Matthews for a few minutes, mostly because I'm fascinated by his drooling.

Can't stand Hannity: he is too strident and has his own parroting of talking points...boring. O'Reilly is a huge gasbag and a complete dope when it comes to economic things like oil prices, but he often has interesting guests. I really enjoy Cavuto and his panel which includes Juan Williams with whom I often agree with and often disagree with. Mr. Williams strikes me as a very sensible person who has his own thoughts and values.

So if I dislike a personality like Olberman, I just don't bother with him. On the other hand, people like Jeremy, my friend can't seem to exercise self control. They go ballistic over Rush, Palin, Beck etc. If they were to just ignore Rush et al, the personalities would lose their power but instead the liberals just keep feeding the beast by watching, listening, attacking, creating interest and power where there might not be anything if they just left it alone..

Do YOU really believe that when this fat tub of lard, who's been on TV and radio for years on end...with millions of wing nut minions (like yourself) hanging on his every word...was really asked for his social, [sic] security number and birth date to get into the White House...after being invited...so they could be sure he was really the fat man??

Well, let's see. First of all, I don't listen to any sort of talk radio (I'm trusting the Professor when she claims to be quoting Rush, but a man with good sense like Meade would not have married her if she routinely made things up). Just now Rush is not particularly overweight; I've seen pictures of him since his diet and he seems fairly trim.

Third, you should never use the "f-word" to describe us weight-challenged people. It hurts our feelings and we will have to picket your home and your place of business.

But, getting to the main point, do I really believe that [Rush Limbaugh] was really asked for his social, [sic] security number and birth date to get into the White House...after being invited...so they could be sure he was really [Rush Limbaugh]?? Sure. Why not? It jibes with experience of another person who claims to have gone to a White House function, so why wouldn't I believe it?

True, but I'm not. I read. Lots. I just don't think any of the talking morons are any more able than I am to understand and analyze news from a range of sources, and I don't have the added agenda of needing people to Ditto! me.

I'd much rather parse things out with people I can dialogue with here, at work, on other blogs, at home, than listen to politically driven dimwits from either side of the spectrum, with their thickly laden coating of huckterism and so-called entertainment.

The President meets with people who hate him and us all the time. I would imagine he's already met with such people and that they've actually been on the list.

Well, Freeman, you're more sanguine than I am. I'd rather no one -- other than foreign leaders in controlled settings -- with such views gets close to the President. You can't stop everybody, I suppose, but there's no reason to invite trouble.

Ahhh Jeremy. . . .it seems you are the only independent commentator in a sea of sycophants.I don't have cable. I don't watch the television. I do NOT read hotair etc. etc. No story is ever as simple as the 2 minute attention span of the average American TV viewer. Fox has mastered it. Pick up Lapham's Quarterly. Live a little.

They're entire goal is to maximize their incomes, and as for Olbermann being "stupid," take a few minutes to compare his education to the three wing nuts.

Education /= intellegent.

Some of the dumbest people I know have college degrees. And sorry to offend the teachers out here who may not fall into this "too stupid to help" category, most of the educators that I have met are terminally stupid and have no common sense.

I refuse to take teachers as clients unless they are the hard science or math types.

Do YOU believe they had both on record at the check point...for everybody?

My dear boy, there are buildings in and around Washington, DC, that are well below the White House in status and security level and that I cannot enter without trusted people having passed my SSN and date and place of birth 24 hours in advance. So, yes, I certainly do believe that. Why would I not?

You and Freeman might be comfortable with the thought that anybody can walk in off the street and crash a state dinner but I'm not.

Can't stand Hannity: he is too strident and has his own parroting of talking points...boring. O'Reilly is a huge gasbag and a complete dope when it comes to economic things like oil prices, but he often has interesting guests. I really enjoy Cavuto and his panel which includes Juan Williams with whom I often agree with and often disagree with. Mr. Williams strikes me as a very sensible person who has his own thoughts and values.

Can't stand Beck. Really can't stand him. Am also bored with Hannity. Rush's ego is more childlike, more obvious than O'Reilly's ridiculously prickly, Irish version but I adore big personalities, which they definitely are. Just about the only guy I admire is Mark Levin, who is on so late for me, that I rarely tune in. It took me a while to get over my distaste for his loud Hanna Barbera accent, when he launches into his rants, but they are backed by deep patriotism and knowledge of our country's history and ethos. Plus he's Jewish, and I have a particular respect for Jewish righties (as I do for black ones). It can't be easy.

Have absolutely no experience with white house functions, and the SS protocols that govern--dont give a damn what Rush Limbaugh says about the event--While I cannot abide our current president, I am greatly disturbed that two people who were by all accounts uninvited, were able to slip thru security and get close enough to our president to do him bodily harm had they wished to do so. That really bothers me. Heads should roll for this glaring blunder.

You know Khalili, the dude who the Obama's celebrated with when he went to NY? The party that the LA Times sat on the tape of (too much yukking up for the Palestinians on it). The guy who claims he wasn't really PLO ---.

Not to mention the buzz out there is that Obama knows the Sahalis -- they were supporters who did a fundraiser for him? There are said to be pictures, and it would not surprise me. But I won't hold my breath. The link I was following took me to a newspaper page that said the story wasn't up yet. Still being written. Come back in 5 minutes type thing.

Oh yeah. That relative of mine who is Secret Service. Not at the WH for the party. BUt you can be sure they won't divulge all they do for security.

Someone speculated that perhaps Obama gave the Sahalis the last minute OK to get in? And Rahm Emanuel looks happy with them ... Mmmmmm. Must not have known they had a camera crew traipsing around with them outside the gates.

MEANWHILE

Gibbs and the English BA Climate Czar are illustrating their ignorance blowing off ClimateGate while at the least "science" has expereinced a deep wound and will be damaged for untold years, and the MSM is churning up the golfer and the gate crasher stories.

I am greatly disturbed that two people who were by all accounts uninvited, were able to slip thru security and get close enough to our president to do him bodily harm had they wished to do so

ROGER, HELLO...why aren't people getting this point as much? When I saw Biden's dopey Chiclet grin next to the Salahis, as well as Rahm Emanuel, I was dumbstruck. But then I saw the pic of Michele Salahi in her orange wannabe sari in front of President Obama, and the first thing I thought was...imagine if she were a sleeper terrorist? HE COULD'VE BEEN KILLED.

This isn't faux concern for a man whose politics I dislike. I may not like Obama, but the thought of any president of the United States left so vulnerable by his own security forces makes wince.

Frankly, I'm surprised this angle hasn't been pushed by Lefties, that hey, maybe there's a rogue anti-Obama element in the Secret Service, and this lackadaisical handling of security at this event is proof of that. That's terrifying.

What is so dangerous about entertainment news is that it quickly becomes "fact." It's as if reality is created by Rush, Fox, etc. etc. Is there REALLY no watchdog press left? Have they all had their teeth pulled out by Michael Vick? Bastard.

Scary thought, given that Obama, Biden and Pelosi were at the event, if these were crazies intent on mayhem instead of publicity seeking idiots, they could have infected themselves with a nasty biological agent in suicide attack, passed it on, and taken out the top three in the line of succession in a single day. That would be a hard type of attack to prevent, assuming there are such diseases/poisons that don't present immediate symptoms for the carrier.

We could have woken up to President Robert Byrd this week. Wouldn't that be a fun time?

Does anyone feel that there is truly an independent source of real news out there? Like I said, I like Lapham but that's in depth, slow, and complicated. For "breaking" news is anyone really reporting? Is Democracy Now! really dreck? Really? Or are they telling the truth? Are they any more sensational than Fox? Really? I don't listen to either, I'm just asking.

Or what if the woman didn't have a foot and was hiding a cobra in her shoe? Yikes!

Or how about just a ceramic knife? Available everywhere and ceramic doesn't register on magnetometers, don't you know. I would have guessed that anyone permitted to be withing "hugging" proximity of the POTUS would have undergone at least a cursory background check. If they don't, they should.

Let's make sure we understand the fat man is in an uproar and thinks something is fishy because:

He had to have his SS number and provide his birth date to get into the White House, as an invited guest, but was never concerned about a gay internet prostitute attending press briefings and asking questions of President Bush?

And most here go along with this tripe, and also think there's much more to the story?

Is Democracy Now! really dreck? Really? Or are they telling the truth? Are they any more sensational than Fox? Really?

More sensational? No. More depressing to listen to.

Check it out. It's only an hour.

One difference: At the Republican National Convention, Minneapolis police arrested four Democracy Now employees, including the host Amy Goodman. No Fox employees were arrested while covering the Democratic National Convention.

Freeman Hunt said..."What if that woman had had all of her bones embedded with poison needles that would shoot out through her skin at the press of a kneecap? Then we would really have been in trouble."

What if Gannon had a huge, electronic, vibrating dildo with a really, really sharp point at the White House briefings?

And J, I will take your offer of oral sex as a peace offering but will have to decline. While I appreciate the gesture, I am very much straight. I am flattered, but feel it would be better if we refrained from giving in to desire at this stage of our relationship. And besides, I would not want to risk doing anything that may damage our friendship - which I have come to value very much.

Oh, wait Beth--don't you teach something more or less in the area of English? Perhaps you could concoct a cover story that you're writing a paper on Jockspeak, and that's why you're listing to sports talk.

When someone says "fuck you" or "blow me" or "suck my dick" or "shove it up your lying ass" or "cram it" or "shove it" or any number of other colorful and fun things to say to idiots like yourself...they're not really inviting a sexual encounter, they're telling you what they think of you and what you can do with your bullshit.

Pogo, like I said; you really have to get out of the trailer...and listen to much more of NPR.

They cover all of the news, their Science Friday is always interesting, their Sunday word quizzes are fun, entertaining and educational, the car guys are great, the Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me segment is fun, and of course, their interviews with BOTH sides of an issue opens the door to discussion and reasonable debate.(PBS News Hour is good too)

Re: SS security procedures. I visited the WH last summer and took the lame tour offered. The one you get your congressman to get you tickets for, anyway,a whole grandstand worth of tourists and I had to provide all the details about ourselves that Rush referred to as well as be on the "list". Furthermore--we weren't allowed to bring in anything but a wallet and car keys. No cell phone, no water, nothing. (That seriously annoyed me. It is damn hot in D.C. in the summer.) If a bunch of tourists have to go through all that just to be on the ground floor of the WH for 20 minutes or so, when the President isn't even around--then I expect the SS aren't doing less security for a State Dinner.

I think that the Salahi's were allowed in by someone inside to accommodate their lack of an actual invitation. I also think they had to have been on a list beforehand to be pre-screened or they wouldn't haven't gotten inside. Thus, the event was premeditated. I don't believe that the SS changes their procedures based on differences in administrations. They operate in a non-partisan fashion and I cannot believe that they would compromise their security standards and the President's safety. Take a look at the picture of Mrs. Salahi and President Obama shaking hands. He has BOTH his hands around her hand, cupping it. I don't think he would have been shaking her hand in such a personal/affectionate way if they were strangers. Did O try to hide their presence at the party by leaving them off the guest list and having them escorted in? I doubt it. There were, what, 400 people at the party? Much smarter/better to just put them on the list and let them get lost in all the other names. The ethnicity of their name doesn't even stand out among so many names from guests connected with the Indian PM. Did the Salahi's use a connection to get them in because they weren't high enough up the social ladder to make the list officially, seems more likely. Finally, I read somewhere that the Salahi's were not present for dinner they came in half way through the evening--not right at the start which solves the whole where did they sit for dinner problem.

Re: Landrieu--my mother used to tell a joke about a woman in a bar. A man sitting next to her asked if she'd sleep with him for a 100 million dollars and she said yes. Then he asked her if she'd sleep with him for ten bucks and she indignantly exclaimed, "What do you think I am? A whore?" He replied, "That madam has already been established, now all we are quibbling about is price." Landrieu's price apparently was 300 million, but it still makes her a whore---along with pretty much all of Congress.

I don't know if Palin is nice or evil. Never met her and don't frankly trust that what the media report about anyone is really true. So many in public life wear a nice face--politicians, celebrities and sports figures among them--while behaving in ways of small character. I think I became cynical when I figured out that my youthful idol, Princess Di was a raging nutjob with no morals and a seriously whacked sense of entitlement. (She did wear great clothes, though, fwiw)

I believe in capitalism wholeheartedly. So if Palin can get 1.5 million in a book deal more power to her...and anybody else who can do it.